One of the things that Covid had taught us, is that we all have the ability to change, adapt and thrive in new situations which previously we might have thought impossible. Our Supported Living team shared one such instance from last summer, which happened for one of our customers.
David (his name has been changed) has severe learning disabilities and autism. Although sometimes his behaviour may be challenging, he is adored by his family and respected by those who work with him. He is set in his ways and, day to day life was better when he has a predictable, daily routine.
He would spend weekends with his mum and dad, watching television and walking in local parks. During activities he made little eye contact and getting a smile from David was not a common occurrence. At mealtimes, he wanted all the doors and windows closed and always had to eat in the dining room.
With the first Covid lockdown, David's life drastically changed. Within the team that help David, one had to self-isolate and he couldn't see his Mum and Dad. The adaptable Supported Living team found solutions to make his transition into Lockdown life as seamless as possible and one of their first goals was to get consistency back into his life.
They started WhatsApp video calls with his family and found David stability in the shape of a new support team member to replace the team member who was self-isolating. The new addition to David’s dedicated team got intensive inductions, working alongside established members of the support team to help him to get embedded into David's precise routines and learned responses.
Slowly, David started to participate in activities. The team discovered that he enjoyed things like threading pasta, so they got him a colourful threading set which he loves! Games like Alien Drop! brought that elusive smile to David's face, but what was most awe inspiring was that David even started eating meals outside in the Summer sunshine!
Change can make us look again at what is important.
Our lesson learnt – never assume that person cannot change and adapt!
We support incredible people to live their best life!
